The famous plumber's latest outing on Wii U is the most fun you'll have with a
platform game this year, says Ashton Raze

The first thing I noticed about Super Mario 3D World was that it was a tiny bit underwhelming. Only a tiny bit, mind. But let me set the scene; I loved Super Mario 3D Land on 3DS. Particularly how well it had been designed for the handheld. Small, bitesize levels, little chunks of 3D Mario perfect for pick up and play. So, upon starting Mario 3D World, I had slightly mixed feelings about the fact it seemed to be largely the same. The structure worked on a handheld, but on a home console... was it perhaps lacking? For a few levels, there was a danger it might be.

Clearly Nintendo knew this too, because it doesn't take long before they start piling on the creativity. All fears are assuaged, and what first seems like an underwhelming start is revealed to be simply easing the player in, with new ideas coming thick and fast.

Obviously, the core levels of 3D World are somewhat familiar. Courses - and they most definitely do feel like courses compared to the Galaxy series' larger levels - take place for the most part in small spaces. Limited platforms, side-scrolling sections, corridors that head forwards and backwards. A timer ticks down - often with a rather tight limit - and as Mario, Luigi, Princess or Toad, you make your way from the start to the goal, collecting green stars on the way. Like 3D Land, it's somewhere half-way between New Super Mario Bros. and Galaxy, but here, in 3D World, it draws on the best elements of both.

The Mario series are always unfailingly a joy to control, but 3D World may well be the tightest, most fluid Mario yet. It's sublime to play. Thanks to the obstacle course-like nature, you can fling yourself forwards, sideways, up and down without hesitation, the level design wonderfully tailored to progress with reckless abandon, then occasionally opening up into slightly larger areas to leap around in, climb trees, dispatch goombas and the like.

The levels following the standard template are embellished by great power-ups. Many of the familiar types return; the classic mushrooms and fire flowers, of course, along with the likes of Giant Mario and NSMB2's coin block. Then there's Cat Mario, a suit that gives you a speed burst, a diving attack and the ability to climb walls. This adds an extra element of traversal, which Nintendo has taken full advantage of, hiding green stars and secrets in otherwise hard-to-reach places.

This is just the standard, albeit excellent levels though. It's when Nintendo plays around with the formula, or changes it altogether, that things get really exciting. There are levels that take advantage of the gamepad, requiring you to tap blocks, or blow into fans as you go. There are side-on levels that make use of shadow and silhouettes, playing around with perspective in surprising, often amusing ways. There are bits where you ride down water rapids on a dinosaur. Levels where you have a 100 second time limit, and have to rush to reach your goal. Small, self-contained mini-boss fights. There's a particularly excellent level type where you boost along a path, using turbo pads and springboards, which effortlessly plays exactly like that dream 3D Sonic game people always talk about. While the aforementioned blue hedgehog has spent years trying and failing to perfect a single conceit, Mario dances in and out of styles and structures effortlessly.

The levels are held together by a JRPG-style world map, connected by paths but with the player having free reign to walk around anywhere. Head off the beaten track and find the occasional 1up or hidden coin, or encounter the random fruit machines that occasionally spring up. Sometimes, you'll find an additional level starring Captain Toad. Captain Toad is an explorer who can't jump, and his levels are played out in a 3D cube space which you can rotate. The camera here requires full manual control, and these levels are exceptionally fun as you work out the path Captain Toad needs to take, and carefully follow your movements with the camera.

One of the things that makes or breaks a Mario game for me is whether or not you're rewarded for just trying things out. A circular stone on the floor? Butt-stomp it. A tree stuck in the corner of the map? Climb it. The designers of Mario 3D World clearly revelled in this kind of play, hiding coins, power-ups and 1Ups all over the place. It's a game that's constantly rewarding, even in very small ways.

It's fully playable in co-op too, and you can tackle the levels in madcap 4-player action. The game supports just about every Wii U controller device it could too, from Gamepads and Wii U controllers to Wii remotes and classic controller pros. It really is a fantastic game. That thrill of hitting the top of the flagpole is still there after all these years, Mario and co leap about at the top of their game, it's colourful, friendly, joyful, and the most fun I've had with a platform game since Super Mario Galaxy 2.